An article in the Las Vegas Sun on the Kucinich candidacy [J. Patrick Coolican, "No Respect for Kucinich, Even Though Many Agree with Him," Las Vegas Sun, 2007.09.17] directs my attention to an unscientific "blind taste test" that allows voters to rate their own political stances and then see which presidential candidate most closely fits their views. The Sun reports that our man Dennis is winning this poll overwhelmingly.
The Madville Times emphasizes the unscientific nature of this poll; nonetheless, it is interesting to see what happens when voters consider the issues before the media images. For those of you who aren't already burned out on the two-year presidential campaign, take a peek, see where the issues might direct your vote.
And for those of you interested in comparing notes, here are my scores from this morning:
Kucinich 31
Gravel 30
Richardson 20
Obama 17
Edwards 16
Paul 14
Clinton 13
Biden 9
Dodd 8
Cox -3
McCain -10
Thompson -11
Brownback -22
Giuliani -26
Tancredo -26
Huckabee -30
Romney -35
Hunter -40
Note that Libertarian masquerading as Republican Ron Paul ranks higher than Hillary Clinton in my rankings, and that he is the only GOP candidate who managed to earn a positive score. Try the test yourself, let me know what you learn!
I'm going to be like Monty Brewster in the movie "Brewster's Millions" and vote for "None of the Above!"
ReplyDeleteAs I said back in 2003, choosing among the frontrunners of either party is like choosing between Pepsi and Coke, while our man Dennis is orange juice!
ReplyDeleteAs I stated... "None of the Above!"
ReplyDeleteshows just how opposite we are in our thinking, as my highs are your lows and vice versa, Kucinich got a -64 for me. Romney and Hunter were my highest; I have been very interested in Hunter, but have lots of doubts about Romney's sincerity on his positions.
ReplyDeleteThe most interesting thing about this is the divergence of our opinions, yet if you knew me, we are both extremely sincere in wanting what is best for our country. There are some things you have posted on this blog I even agree with.
DJ
Interesting site, Cor. I wish there was more mainstream discussion on issue stances and such, as opposed to focusing on the media game. Perhaps each candidate should link that page up to their web sites to give people a real sense of where the candidate's stances fit with the voter's opinion? No, wait ... that would just leave too little room for obfuscation and pandering, wouldn't it?
ReplyDeleteOh, and I was doubly interested to see that your support for Kucinich's policies at 31 is rather tepid compared to the 59 I wound up scoring ... my formal PoliSci training still defaults me toward thinking about "electability" in the general election (meaning "frontrunners"), but maybe I'll eventually deprogram that part of my brain and start canvassing for Dennis ... easier to do in Liberal College Town, MN than in SD, though, I'd imagine.
59 vs 31? Wow -- that's quite a difference! It's possible that my Kucinich quotient was lower from not marking many of my issues as "extremely important." I marked a number of questions 1s and 2s instead of the max 5. And Dennis and I have our disagreements, like on pulling out of Iraq immediately (I want out, but I'm not convinced we can do it without disastrous consequences -- Dennis and I need to have a long sit-down to hash that one out!).
ReplyDeleteAnd DJ, how very interesting to find an exact opposite... and how very instructive for everyone to note that two very sincere individuals with the best interest of their country at heart can still disagree.
So, anyone else have numbers to compare? Send them in -- I find the data fascinating!
That survey thingy is missing some important categories, namely anything to do with economic and agricultural policy.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Steve. The survey lacks a number of important issue (as does most of the public discourse). But at least they're talking about some issues and not image and campaign donations.
ReplyDeleteWell, not surprising, I'm also at polar opposites from our esteemed host here. I actually agreed with Fred Thompson on everything, and Guiliani rated lower on my top end than I thought he would. I would still vote for any Repubican over Hillary, who ranked near the bottom for me. Interesting test. Will have my better half try later too.
ReplyDelete